Sunday, April 27, 2014

The 2014 Australia program is
over.We returned to Brisbane last
Wednesday from Fraser Island, had our farewell dinner on Thursday evening, and
on Friday morning we went our separate ways.Our final meal together on Thursday was a wonderful event.We gathered at an Indian restaurant in
the West End just around the corner from where we had our classes during our
month in Brisbane.After weeks of
grungy camping clothes, muddy hiking boots, wet bathing suits (“bathers” in
Australia), and flip-flops, it was fun to dress up for a night out on the
town.The highlight of the evening
was the excellent slideshow Emma put together from all of our photos this
semester.It was great to relive
all the incredible experiences we have had and to reflect on how much we have
learned and how close we have become as a group since our first days in Sydney
back in January.Our travels these
last fourteen weeks have taken us through the urban center of Sydney, the caverns
and canyons of the Blue Mountains, the scorched eucalypt forests of North
Stradbroke Island, the suburbs of Brisbane, the state parliament of Queensland,
the rain forests of Lamington, the hidden crevices and streams of Carnarvon
Gorge, cattle stations and coal towns, and the coral cays of the Great Barrier
Reef.Many of the people we
encountered on our journey remarked that we were seeing more of their country
than most Australians ever would.

Like many of the students I spoke
to, I can hardly believe that the program is over and I am just now beginning
to process the whole experience.In a sense, I still don’t know what to make of Australia.When I compare it to the other places
in which I have spent a lot of time—India, East Africa, China, and Europe—it
seems much more like America.Driving along a highway past Costco, Target, McDonalds or other familiar
chain outlets, listening to the radio, or attending barbecues and beach parties
often made me feel like I was merely in a new part of a familiar world.The differences seemed minor: vehicles
drive on the left side of the road, state governors are called “premiers,” when
the Broncos play the Cowboys in football they don’t wear padding and rarely
stop the clock, and people say “no worries” instead of “no problem” or “don’t
worry about it.”More
significantly, my students and I never had to struggle with a foreign language
or a radically different culture.In fact, the biggest cultural difference may have been the ubiquitous
Vegemite, an inedible paste that the locals regard like manna from heaven.

Yet at other times, this
country/continent could not have been more different.It was astonishing to stand in front of Aboriginal rock
paintings so old that they could not accurately be dated, to ponder the timeline
of the world’s oldest continuous human society (40,000 years at minimum) and
then consider this longevity against their struggle to survive through the most
recent two centuries.Modern
Australia’s stability, peace and prosperity also belie the convict origins of
the first white settlement.It is
hard to believe that the thought of transportation to this land, often for the
most minor offenses, once filled the underclass of Britain and Ireland with
dread.The penal colonies of
Sydney, Moreton Bay, Tasmania, and Norfolk Island were the gulags of their day
and those condemned to be sent there often saw the last vestiges of their
humanity stripped from them—an experience they would share with the original
inhabitants, though little sympathy would grow between the two groups.From these dismal origins, the
fragmented prison outposts of the continent would one day merge into a single
large colony, transportation would end, and waves of hopeful immigrants would
take the place of those shackled men and women forced to plant the first seeds
of the nation.As an historian of
the British Empire, I have developed a deep and abiding fascination for this
country, its dark and unlikely beginnings, and its many transformations.

The natural beauty and
peculiarity of Australia will also be hard to leave behind.I still have not gotten used to the
squawk of the cockatoo or the laugh of the kookaburra even as these became a
regular part of our soundscape these last few months.I think back on the half-burnt eucalypt trees sprouting new
leaves within days of fire, the night skies of Australia’s densest metropolis
filled with giant bats, the kangaroos and wallabies that bounded past our
tents, and sandy-bottomed lagoons carpeted with stingrays.These sights never ceased to amaze me;
I loved their strangeness and I know that I will feel their absence once I am
back in Portland.

For many of us, the end of the
program signals the beginning of our own travels.By now, the students in our group have scattered to Western
Australia, Northern Queensland, Tasmania, and New Zealand as our antipodean
adventures continue.I am writing
this final entry in our blog from the veranda of a guesthouse on the island of
Efate in Vanuatu, a Melanesian archipelago 1200 miles east of Australia, where
I am looking forward to a bit of island hopping, diving, and beach time on my
own.Yet I know that I will not
enjoy these as much without the students to share the experience with me.As faculty leader I was doubly blessed
with a wonderful group of students and our able and enthusiastic assistant
program leader Emily.Indeed, I
could not have been happier with the people who were part of this year’s
Australia program.We were
likewise fortunate to have been so well looked after by Nat, Marta, and Mira at
GED, our outstanding cook Ulla, our fearless driver Steve, and the dozens of
scholars, scientists, elders, and teachers who formed our academic staff and
accompanied us on our travels.It
was a genuine pleasure to have their companionship, to get to know Australia
from their perspectives, and to see this country in a way that few outsiders
ever will.“Thank you” is an
insufficient acknowledgement for all they did.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Sadly, as I am
writing this blog entry, our program has now ended. The last few days we spent together
in Australia were great ones, though a little bittersweet.

On April 14th we
had the great pleasure of taking exams. These tests were for our natural
history course, and split up into separate terrestrial and marine exams. It was
a bit difficult to get into the mindset of needing to study for a final while
at a resort on a beautiful island. However, the Portland-esque rainy weather (caused
by nearby cyclone Ita) coupled with the piled exhaustion from the past couple
of amazing weeks, helped us to buckle down and study. I must say these exams were
under the classiest circumstances I have ever experienced during test taking.
The testing took place in the ballroom of the hotel and there were glasses of
water and mints provided on crisply clothed tables. Three hours of testing
later, when I emerged from the ballroom with a very sore hand and a mind still
preoccupied by characteristics of specific venomous marine animals, I realized
that I had just completed my junior year of college. I can now consider myself
a senior in college... pretty awesome and scary at the same time. Post-test,
most of us indulged in some celebratory drinks and spent the rest of the day
lounging by the pool and in the lukewarm hot tub. That evening, we hit up the
local bar/club to continue our celebrations. Needless to say, because it was a
Monday night, we brought the party to the otherwise dead bar. We did some much
needed dancing on a sticky floor to the music videos projected on the wall.

Post-Finals Bliss

The next day we were
free to do whatever we fancied. A tour around Fraser Island carried a large
price tag, so I spent my time hanging out and reading by the pool and spending
some more quality time with people. We were all definitely glad to have some
time to just chill out with no timetable as a relaxing end to our amazing and
jam-packed semester.

One of the Last Hangout Sessions

On the 16th,
we caught the ferry back to the mainland and spent the morning and a good part
of the afternoon driving back to Brisbane. That evening I went to my two
favorite places in Brissy to eat: Beach Burrito Company for Mexican food and
The Three Monkeys for a scrumptious caramel slice. YUM.

The 2014 Lewis
& Clark Australia program is officially over, but I still cannot get over
how wonderful, amazing, fun, challenging, awesome, hilarious, crazy, and
beautiful my experiences have been these past few months. I love this country
and I love the whole group who have been here with me since day one. This has
hands down been the most fulfilling and incredible journey of my life thus far.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Heron Island is
the kind of destination I have seen on postcards but until I saw it with my own
eyes and felt the coral sand under my own feet, I did not fully believe places
like this existed. It is beautiful here, fascinating and lively.The water is so many shades of blue—aqua,
azure, sapphire—there are not enough words in the English language to describe
the color gradients our eyes are absorbing. The island and its surrounding reef
are teeming with life. During sunset walks, I’ve watched packs of 10+ rays patrol
the shallows, shark fins slice the water’s surface, and I’ve peered into the
clear water to admire the sea cucumbers and other invertebrates on the sea
floor. The pisonia forest on the interior of the island is dark and dank and
humming with the sounds of thousands of noddy wings beating the air.

Stingrays at Sunset

This week has
been busy and intense; we’ve filled our days with lectures and multiple boat snorkel
trips to the reef slope to collect field data. Friday was a perfect snorkel day
with “glass-out” conditions and long-range visibility.The highlight was the second snorkel
location, where we encountered at least eight full-grown green sea turtles. In
lectures we learned that only one in a thousand turtle hatchlings survive to
adulthood and saw evidence of those low odds each time we observed a nest erupt
and watched every turtle plucked from the sand by sea gulls and ghost crabs, or
thrashed in the water by black tip reef sharks. To observe turtle hatchlings
erupt from the nest and instinctively scurry with such gusto, only to fall
victim to the food chain three minutes later, is heartbreaking. But swimming
with those big, old sea turtles felt so special, knowing they had overcome such
an ordeal and thrived.

Sea Turtle Scuttling to Sea

First Taste of Ocean

On Friday
afternoon, students showed off their knowledge of marine ecology during the
behavioral ecology of reef fish presentations. Becca, Allie, Jess, and Sierra
studied cleaner wrasses and recorded the time each wrasse spent cleaning (eating
parasites off) its “client” fish. Gabby, Seraphie, and Katherine were interested
in the parrotfish’s role in shaping the reef. Those students quantified
parrotfish feeding and estimated the amount of coral that parrotfish grind and
pass, effectively turning the coral into sand as a byproduct of their algal
diets. Lex, John, Claire, and Ian measured the degrees of territoriality of
various species of damselfish. Shannon, Nicky, and Emma studied butterfly fish
feeding habits, specifically whether or not butterfly fish preferred to eat certain
coral forms over others. The projects were interesting and stimulating and gave
everyone a greater appreciation of the tedious and difficult work marine
biologists do in the field.

THIS is Heron Island

That night after
another beautiful dinner cooked by Ulla, we zipped up our wetsuits over our
full tummies and attached glow sticks to our snorkels to prepare for the
long-awaited night snorkel. Our tutor, John, fearlessly led us through the
harbor and onto the reef flat, where we observed bioluminescent plankton,
squirrelfish, jellyfish, and loggerhead and green sea turtles. I found it eerie
to compare the dark, seemingly quiet reef at night to the bustling, colorful
reef during the day. I must admit, I felt a bit vulnerable out there at night.
Rest assured, we all returned to dry land safely, with only a few jellyfish
stings to complain about.

We spent so much
time in the water that day that when I finally lay down to sleep, I felt a
residual gentle swaying, as if I was still swimming among sea turtles, still
floating above the Great Barrier Reef.

Friday, April 18, 2014

We’ve
spent the last week on a tropical island paradise— turquoise waters and white
sand and brilliantly multi-colored coral reef and all. Heron Island is a coral
cay in Capricornia Cays National Park, and is part of the Great Barrier Reef.
It’s tiny, small enough to walk around in less than half an hour, but the reef
stretches far out around the island to the east. We’ve been lucky enough to
stay at the University of Queensland research station located on the island, and
we’ve taken full advantage of what the island and reef offer: snorkeling, reef
walks, turtle-spotting and bird-watching expeditions, and beautiful sunsets.

Getting Suited for a Snorkel

Although
our first couple of days were too windy to take boats out onto the reef to
snorkel, the last three days have more than made up for it. Friday’s snorkel at
Blue Pools in particular was perfect: calm, azure water; sunlight trickling
down to light up the pinks, oranges, and purples of the coral and turn the
rainbow of fish sparkling and iridescent; and warm breezes keeping us from
getting too chilly as we floated, watching the underwater world beneath our
goggles. The snorkeling has been amazing, and most of us have been taking full
advantage of going out on the boat as many times as possible.

Snorkel Buddies!

I
think my favorite part of our time on Heron happened on our very first night
here. Heron Island is an established nesting site for sea turtles— mostly green
(Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta gigas). In the past, the
island was home to a turtle soup factory, until they depleted the turtle
population and had to shut down. Luckily, the turtles have come back now that
the soup factory is gone. We happened to come to the island during hatching
season. After a lecture on sea turtle biology, we walked down the beach at
dusk. Soon, we spotted tiny dark splotches slowly traveling over the sand and
coral rubble on the beach toward the ocean. Upon closer inspection, the
splotches proved to be tiny turtles, their flippers too big for their little
bodies, struggling over the footprint craters in the sand. As I stood still,
watching, I felt a gentle, scratching pressure on my foot. I looked down to see
a baby turtle scrambling over the top of my bare foot, determined to make it to
the water. It was a magical moment.

Now
we’re heading off to Fraser Island for the final leg of the program, where we’ll
have our final exams on the biology coursework. It’s crazy that we’re almost
done; it hasn’t even begun to sink in yet. For now, though, there’s still one
more magnificent sunset to enjoy over the Great Barrier Reef.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

We spent most of April 2nd
working on and presenting our experiments on fire ecology and on social
behavior of animals. I really enjoyed listening to the presentations,
especially the ones on social behavior of animals, because I learned a lot
about different Australian animals from my peers. Two of these projects were on
pretty faced wallabies, one was on apostle birds, and as Gabby previously
detailed, ours was on social behavior of ants and termites. After dinner we
decided to watch Finding Nemo in
order to get ourselves into the proper mindset for studying marine animals at
Heron Island, where we will be snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We also
felt obligated to watch this “Australian film” because many of our lecturers
have discussed aspects of it in parts of our lessons.

Exploring Carnarvon Gorge

April 3rd was our last
day at Carnarvon Gorge. We had a few optional hikes planned for those who were
keen. One of the hikes was a dawn
walk to watch the sun rise from atop a bluff. I had been planning on going on
this hike, but my foot (which Sierra mentioned in her blog from March 2nd-5th)
has still been giving me trouble on and off and had been hurting all night. I
decided to sit out that hike. It turns out that was a good idea because the
other students reported that it was basically a scramble in the dark up a very
steep slope. The other hike that was offered was a pretty intense canyoning
adventure that involved swimming across rivers and rock climbing. This sounded
like a ton of fun and I really wanted to go, but climbing would have been
really bad on my foot. Instead, I stayed at camp, finished the book I had been
reading, and went for a swim at the swimming hole near camp. We had a pretty
quiet evening and an early night, as a lot of people were tired from getting up
early and going on two strenuous hikes.

Sunrise over Carnarvon Gorge

Canyoning Group

The next day started off with an
efficient pack up of camp. By 11am we had all piled back onto our home away from
home, the tour bus. Three hours later, we found ourselves at a cattle station
called Kroombit, in Biloela, Queensland. This station had turned to tourism to
subsidize the station during times of drought and has basically become a dude
ranch. It was a very bizarre experience and took some getting used to. Almost
all of the people working there were not Australian, but backpackers working
for their room and board while trying to get their 2nd year visas.
The evening’s activities started with trying out the mystery meat (which was
kangaroo) and continued on to learning how to crack whips, line dance, and ride
a mechanical bull. All of these things felt very touristy, but it was fun to
just let ourselves relax and have fun for the evening.

Our Home Away from Home

We will learn more about the
history and how the station traditionally functions tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The first thing
that struck me about Carnarvon Gorge was the sheer number of flies in the area.
Coming from Lamington, where I developed an acute fear of leeches, I thought I
would not mind having a couple of flies around. But it seemed to me that our
campsite was infested with them. Once I realized that guarding my drinks and
food was a futile effort, I was able to enjoy Carnarvon for everything else it
offers.

The campground
itself proved to be a gem. Never mind the flies, the area was filled with
kangaroos and wallabies of all shapes and sizes. Especially around sunset, we
were bound to see at least a couple of pretty faced wallabies (yes, that’s
their real name) feeding close by. Conveniently for us, the natural defense
mechanism of most of these marsupials is to freeze in place, so I got the
opportunity to essentially have a photoshoot or two with these adorable little
guys and their kangaroo cousins.

Eastern Gray Kangaroo Mother & Joey

On Tuesday, we
began our observations and experiments on the social behavior of animals. Waking
up every morning to newly formed ant mounds directly outside our tents inspired
my group to study communication in ant colonies. We decided to do a
manipulative experiment. We would set up a piece of food one meter away from a
designated ant colony. We would wait until a defined line of ants formed from
the opening of the ant mound to the food, recording their times as they went
along. We would then remove the food and record the time it would take the ants
to stop going there, because we hypothesized the ants would use their
pheromones to communicate that the food source was missing.

Unfortunately,
our experiment was in an open, uncontrolled environment, which meant that we
profoundly underestimated the quantity and diversity of ants in the area. We
had three separate attempts to study three individual colonies, but each time
another species of ant swooped in for the food before our designated study colony.

Ant Nest Outside the Tent

This small
defeat led my group to a new direction of study: communication among termites.
We initially observed that the termites in the eucalypt trees had built tunnels
running up the length of the tree on the outside of the bark. Our tutor, Simon,
told us that termites do not do well in UV light, so they grind up wood to
create these small pathways from the top to the bottom of the tree.

We conducted an
experiment on the termites with this in mind; we broke 2cm, 4cm, and 6cm
sections open in their tunnels and recorded the termites’ response times. The
first thing that happened when we opened the tunnel was a flood of soldier termites
flew out of the broken section, surrounded the perimeter, and banged their
heads on the wood, sending signals to the worker termites. Surprisingly, the
workers, with large, black pincers, were much larger than the soldiers, who
were smaller and red with flat heads. The workers did their job as fast as they
could, in just under an hour for each section. It was interesting to observe
the efficient division of labor among termites.

I think, having
grown up in a very old, wood house, I always had somewhat of a bias against
termites. I never exactly wanted to know how they worked, but after spending a
few hours observing their complex systems and specialized workers, I realized I
might have misjudged the intricate social behaviors of these little insects.

We’ve had a
beautiful week at Carnarvon Gorge and have become immersed in learning about
and observing Australian wildlife. In other words, all’s well on this side of
the world!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

During the three
days that this blog post is about (March 27th-29th), I
was mostly in a transition period of travel and adjustment between the independent
travel week and the beginning of our week in Carnarvon Gorge. I have decided
that instead of recording all the tedious details of my travel habits, I’ll
make a list of useful things I learned during these three days, because not a
day goes by in Australia that I don’t learn something new about myself, my limits, my environment,
or my friends. Here we go.

1.The YHA sets an unfair precedent for all
other hostels. As
someone who had never stayed in a hostel before coming on this program and whose
only hostelling experiences since have been in the YHAs in the Blue Mountains
and Brisbane, I believed that most, if not all, hostels were clean,
well-organized places with soaps
on the pillows at check-in and a free pancake breakfast on Friday mornings.
This is not the case. On the first day of our independent travel week, my travel
buddies and I stayed in a non-YHA hostel that can only be described as a
particularly dirty hovel. By the time we checked into the YHA for our last
night in Cairns, I seriously considered kissing the floor of our clean,
well-lit, air-conditioned room. In
reality all I did was tear up a bit and then raid the free bin, because nothing
is more celebratory to me than receiving free, second-hand
clothing.

2.Australian
airport security checks are easy peasy lemon squeezy. You don’t have to worry about carrying
over 3 ounces of liquids, wearing shoes, or learving random items in your
pocket.Unless you have an umbrella
in your bag, you have to scan that separately.I learned this during both the 7 am flight from Cairns to
Brisbane and the 8:30 am flight from Brisbane to Rockhampton on March 28th.

3.Lamingtons
are an Australian staple. The
ladies of the Country Women’s Association in Blackwater, Queensland, lovingly
demonstrated this to us. After our program rendezvoused in Rockhampton and set
off for Carnarvon Gorge, we stopped in to visit the local chapter of the
Country Women’s Association of Blackwater, a small mining town in central
Queensland. I was quite happy with our stop, as it involved a fair amount of
sitting, listening to stories, and eating cake, which are some of my absolute
favorite activities. Also worth noting is that while Lamington—angelfood cake covered in icing and
coconut—is an Australian staple, it seems to have become quite popular under
other names in different countries. I mean, come on, cake dipped in chocolate
covered in coconut bits was bound to catch on.

4. Australian gliders are the
cutest things. The night of the
29th,
our tutor, Simon, took us on a night walk through the forest of Carnarvon Gorge
to spotlight gliders, nocturnal marsupials
that glide across the forest canopy. We found a few greater gliders as well as
some yellow-bellied gliders, and I swear, when they spread their tiny arm
membranes and leapt from the trees, my soul flew with them. Or should I say,
glided with them.

5. Except
for echidnas, which are actually the cutest. I don’t think this actually needs much explanation; we
found two echidnas during our walk, and I fell in love. It really is that
simple.

Monday, April 7, 2014

As we barrel
forward through the second and final week of independent travel, we have
entered into the stage of frequent commentary on how quickly time has passed. The
truth is, of course, that since January we have done so much and have made so
many memories that thinking back on our time in Sydney seems impossibly far
away and reminds us the time hasn’t disappeared, rather it has been well spent.
Still, only three weeks remain. We have finished our final exams for three out of
four of our classes. In front of us stands a welcome immersion into the
Australian bush and the continuation of our field studies portion of the
program. The next three weeks, full of travel and natural splendor, are in
large part, what made myself and several others apply to this program in the
first place.

We spent last week
at Lamington Plateau, being introduced to the scenery and ecology of some of
Australia’s most impressive rainforests. So impressed were we that this week
myself and several other students took the independent travel week to see more
rainforest farther north.

After an early
morning flight, we found ourselves in the small, charming seaside town of Cairns,
in North Queensland. This is the furthest north we will make it in Australia,
and a great opportunity to see a spread of Australian landscapes
not before experienced. We encountered the even smaller, even more charming town of Kurunda,
made it out west to get a small taste of a more arid Australia, and got soaked
in the wet rainforests of the aptly named Misty Mountains south of Cairns,
before reuniting in Rockhampton with the rest of the group today.

Already it is apparent
that we weren’t the only ones with stories to tell from the independent travel
week. From taking in the cultural sites of Melbourne, to roughing it in
Tasmania, the rest of the group seems equally happy with their travels.
Everyone seems to be feeling mentally rested and eager to get on with the final
stretch of the program. Usually I would expect to see homesick faces at this
point in such long trip away from home and all that is familiar, as minds tend
to turn toward home with the end finally, realistically within site. Yet the anticipation
of the experiences we still have before us in Carnarvon Gorge and on Heron Island
have kept spirits high. Furthermore, at this point in the trip it’s amazing
that we haven’t started tearing each other apart after over two months with
only the same thirteen other students for company. Instead, we’ve come out of our week apart eager to see the people
we hadn’t been traveling with, to swap stories, and to explore Carnarvon Gorge.

On our last full day at Lamington Plateau we had
a free day to roam the beautiful national park. Seven of us decided we wanted
to take a longer walk deeper into the park on a loop trail that would take us all
day to complete. We started off with packed lunches and plenty of water to
sustain us while we roamed the rainforest that, thanks to our professors, we've
quickly gotten to know over the past few days. Log runners (small birds) darted
past the luscious undergrowth on the dank forest floor as we ventured deeper
into the forest.Overhead nearly
all the sunlight was blocked by tall trees caked with epiphytes and heavily
draped with lianes. The hike took us along three raging waterfalls each with
moss-lined pools underneath. As adventurous college kids, we eagerly took
advantage of the plunge pools to cool us down. Anthropods, isopods, arachnids, true
bugs, and normal bugs all greeted us from the surrounding rocks. We have
adapted to the presence of these crawlers and face them not with fright, but
with increased interest. Yet as we continued we soon realized our greatest foes
of the day would be leeches. During the thickest part of our trudge through the
forest (where we were wishing for a machete) we flicked off at least ten
bloodsucking leeches per person. After about 17 kilometers of walking and
checking for leeches, we happily scurried back to camp, feeling like we knew
what it really is like to be in the rainforest—in order to understand the diverse
rainforest and all its birds, plants, bugs, and mammals, we had to lose a
little blood from leeches.

The next day we packed up camp and left
Lamington Plateau to start our week of independent travel. I went with a buddy
to Tasmania for a bit of hiking. As I flew into Hobart, the capital city, I was
reminded of other remote towns I've been in. Hobart has the harbor and seafood places
of Maine, but the practical layout of Anchorage or Juneau. The rolling hills of
the countryside filled with wheat and livestock remind me of my home in
Wisconsin. I could tell tourism season has ended, as the town was dead quiet by
8 o'clock. Australians have a phobia of temperatures dropping below the 60s, which
they are prone to do in Tasmania, so it didn’t surprise me that the only people
visiting seemed to be from places where they put dots over their letters. I can
tell it’s my kind of town though; there are more outdoor stores then any other
type of store. Tomorrow we will head to Freycinet National Park to camp for
two nights. This trip will be short but good, giving us a little relaxation
before we push through our final few weeks of the program.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Our group’s
return to the Australian bush was as refreshing as it was educational. There
was a perfect balance of good food, card playing, and smelliness to bring the
group a bit closer together while enjoying the beauty of the Australian
rainforest and learning about the ecology of the area.

Tuesday morning,
half of us woke up early to hike out and check the bird nets that our fearless
avian studies tutor, Stephen, had set up. We were lucky enough to find three
birds caught in the nets: one logrunner and two yellow-throated scrub wrens.
Stephen showed us how to gently hold the birds, giving us a chance to examine
their weight and appearance before setting them free. After taking down the
nets, we headed back to camp for a wonderful hot breakfast made by our beloved
cook, Ulla.

Strangler Fig in Lamington National Park

After breakfast
and a quick equipment cleanup, we split off into small groups to plan our
rainforest studies projects. We were encouraged to examine the question, “does
competition occur in rainforests?” The question seems simple enough, yet as
many of our groups realized, competition is harder to prove than one might
think. My group decided to look at epiphytes, which are amazing plants that
live on the branches and trunks of trees and are found throughout the
rainforest. My trio spent the afternoon counting and identifying epiphytes to
test our hypothesis, that there would be interspecific competition for space at
different heights in the rainforest. After estimating the heights of numerous
orchids, staghorns, ferns, and other beautiful epiphytes, and processing our
data, we came to the conclusion that we couldn’t conclude anything at all about
competition. Other groups couldn’t say much for competition either, despite the
diverse range of projects examining things like the population density of brush
turkeys and forest growth after disturbance. As it turns out, most groups weren’t able
to prove that competition exists in rainforests and agreed that future
in-depth studies would be needed.

Sierra on the Canopy Tree Walk

The Most Magnificent Epiphyte I've Ever Seen

After presenting
our findings to each other the next morning, we had a bit of free time to
explore the forest without our lab gear in our hands. A group of us decided to
hike down to a beautiful waterfall with a view. I know our professors keep
telling us that Australia is flat in geological terms, but I’ve got to tell
you, it has some beautiful mountains.

The Waterfall Hike

View of the Waterfall

After our hike,
or “walk” as Australians call it, we met up with Kathy, an entomologist who
introduced us to the wonderful world of Australian invertebrates. We headed back
into the forest to gather insects. Gathering involved shaking branches onto
white sheets, strategically swooping brush with large nets, laying out pitfall
traps, and overturning rotting logs to pick out cockroaches with forceps.
All in all, we had a grand old time channeling our inner 9-year-old bug-hunting
selves.

Later that
night, Kathy showed us something really special. The conditions were perfect
for hiking out and looking at glow worms. The bioluminescent worms, which are
actually maggots, emit a bluish glow that attracts insects, which then get
stuck in silk snares that the maggot has expertly hung like fishing line. These
glow worms are unique to Australia and New Zealand and it was amazing to get
the opportunity to see them. The numerous glowing lights along the bank looked
like fallen stars. We all sat quietly staring as if we were looking up at the
night sky.

We spent the
next morning examining our invertebrate findings under microscopes in a
makeshift lab with the guidance of the highly knowledgeable, Kathy. We saw everything from spiders to beetles to bees and learned
all about what makes those creatures tick.
My favorite finding was a giant moth larva the size of my finger that Ian and I
agreed we would eat for no less than $3000. American dollars, of course. Lucky
for us, no one had that kind of cash on them, so the ethanol-soaked larva was
returned safely to its designated vial. All of us learned a lot from
classifying our invertebrate findings, although it was a bit disconcerting to
see all of the insects, particularly the large ones, that are cohabitating this
beautiful continent with us. As we nestled in our tents that night, we dreamt
of ticks, leeches, and giant worms, all of which we had the pleasure of
interacting with that day. Our experience with the flora and fauna at Lamington
was definitely an unforgettable one.

About

Welcome to the group blog for the Lewis & Clark College 2014 Australia program. We will post entries regularly to share our lessons and adventures with our family and friends, as we travel and study in Sydney, Brisbane, and the ecologically rich and diverse regions beyond.